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ESA Governing Board
March 3-5, 2000
Washington, DC
The March 2000 meeting of the Governing Board was attended by Diana Wall (President), Steve Carpenter (President-Elect); Katherine Gross (Past-President), Lisa Graumlich (Secretary), James Clark (Vice President for Science), Timothy Schowalter (Vice President for Public Affairs), William Schlesinger (Vice President for Finance), Alan Berkowitz (Vice President for Education and Human Resources), Ariel Lugo (Member-at-Large), Rodolfo Dirzo (Member-at-Large), Robin Chazdon (Member-at-Large), and Executive Director Katherine McCarter. Managing Editor David Baldwin, SBI Director Mary Barber, Director for Public Affairs Nadine Lymn, Education Coordinator Susan Musante, and Financial Manager Elizabeth Biggs were present for parts of the meeting. The meeting was called to order by President Wall at 7:30 pm, Friday, March 3 and adjourned at 11 am, Sunday, March 05, 2000.
I. Roll Call
- The Governing Board unanimously adopted the Agenda and approved the minutes from the November 1999 meeting.
- Ratification of votes taken since November 1999: The Governing Board ratified
two votes conducted via email in the period after the November 1999 meeting.
A majority vote approved the August 1999 Governing Board minutes. Similarly,
a majority vote approved the award description for a new ESA award to be called
the Eugene P. Odum Award for Excellence in Ecology Education.
II. Report of the Vice President for Finance
- Investment update: Vice President for Finance Schlesinger reported that the
rate of return on ESA’s Reserve (Restricted) Funds improved during the
last quarter of 1999. At the Governing Board’s request, Schlesinger moved
about half of the funds from Towneley Investments to Riggs Bank in order to
pursue a more growth-oriented investment strategy. Schlesinger moved that the
Governing Board approve a variance to the ESA Investment Policy to allow investments
in more growth-oriented instruments. The motion was seconded and unanimously
approved. Gross moved that the Governing Board ask the Vice President for Finance
to work with the Investment Committee to revise the investment policy to allow
more flexibility in investment strategies for consideration at the May 2000
Governing Board meeting.
- Executive Director McCarter reported on the 1999 budget. The budget is balanced
with only minor internal variances. McCarter also reported that the registration
numbers for the April 2000 joint meeting with British Ecological Society are
low. She will work with the BES and ESA staff to reduce the expected financial
losses from the meeting.
III. Discussion/Action Items
- Theme for Annual Meeting, Madison, 2001. Schlesinger moved to accept the
meeting theme suggested by Paul Zedler, Program Chair for the Madison Meeting.
The theme is “Keeping all the parts: Preserving, restoring, and sustaining
complex ecosystems”, which is an allusion to a well-known quote by Aldo
Leopold. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved. Schlesinger moved
that the Governing Board appoint Stan Temple as the Local Host. The motion
was seconded and unanimously approved.
- Odum Award: Dr. Eugene P. Odum has given ESA a monetary gift to establish
the Eugene P. Odum Award for Excellence in Education. In accepting the gift,
the ESA pledges to raise an additional $25,000 for the award in five years.
President Wall is working with the Vice President for Finance to develop a
plan to raise these funds. Berkowitz moved that the recipient of the Odum
Award be given the option to write an article to be submitted to Ecology.
The motion was seconded and passed by a majority vote.
- ESA Office Staff Retreat/Long Range Plan. Executive Director McCarter reported
on the ESA Office Staff Retreat, which took place on February 2, 2000. The
staff explored three trends that will affect ESA in the future: 1) diversity,
especially changes in age, race/ethnicity, and language of the US population
and changes in the employment patterns of ecologists; 2) technology, especially
issues of how ESA can optimize its use of communication technologies; and
3) revenue, especially how ESA might best expand its revenue base. The staff
tied these trends to goals and objectives as stated in ESA’s Long Range
Plan. The staff expressed strong interest in making better use of technological
tools to pursue ESA goals, in continuing to improve how we provide information
to the public, and in addressing the need to sustain ESA financially. In sum,
the staff expressed a strong dedication to improving member services, increasing
ESA’s financial security, and to applying ecological knowledge to national
and international issues.
- Ecological Forecasting Proposal. Vice President Clark reported that the
National Science Foundation has funded the Ecological Forecasting Proposal.
The funding provides for a workshop in October 2000 to develop a science agenda
at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis.
- Recommendations from the Membership Task Force. Member-at-Large Chazdon
presented the preliminary findings from the Membership Task Force. The goal
of the Task Force is to develop a strategy for determining the needs and membership
status of professional ecologists in North America (US, Canada, and Mexico)
and to propose future member services targeted at maintaining a diverse and
solid membership base for the society. The Governing Board enthusiastically
received the preliminary report, noting that the Task Force has made substantial
progress is framing this issue, assembling relevant data, and defining recommendations.
Chazdon moved that the Governing Board establish an Ad Hoc Committee on Membership.
The motion was seconded and unanimously approved. President Wall requested
that the Ad Hoc Committee on Membership continue to develop strategies and
to bring forward specific action items for consideration at the May 2000 Governing
Board meeting.
- Editor-in-Chief’s Roles. The Governing Board anticipated that it may
need to name some new Editors in Chief (EiC) for its journals after the terms
of the current EiC’s expire. EiC for Ecology, Robert Peet, has expressed
his desire to step down at the end of December 2000. President Elect Carpenter
led a discussion about the roles of the EiCs and particularly the issue of
the amount of time involved in fulfilling the various functions of the position.
President Wall charged the Publications Committee to develop a prioritized
list of candidates for the Editor-in-Chief of Ecology position. On a separate
matter, the Governing Board addressed the question of real and perceived conflicts
of interest when editors are authors on ESA publications. This discussion
was prompted by the reactions of several ESA members to the most recent Issues
in Ecology on Biodiversity. Schlesinger moved that the Governing Board recommend
a knowledgeable and trusted senior ecologist be asked to take the lead in
organizing a forum for Ecological Applications on biodiversity and ecosystem
function that will include divergent viewpoints. The motion was seconded and
unanimously approved.
- Publications: Schlesinger presented further information about the projected
costs of launching a new journal with a magazine-like format, which would
contain shorter and longer scientific papers of wide and conceptual interest,
reviews, and commentaries on recent publications, and items of news and special
interest to ecologists. Schlesinger moved that the Governing Board charge
the ESA office staff to develop a business plan for the proposed magazine.
The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
- Future of ESA. President Wall led a several hour session in which the Governing
Board and ESA staff members were charged to consider the future of ESA programs
and activities. The group was charged to explore new and continuing programs
and activities and assess their effectiveness and importance in moving ESA
towards its long term goals. Three groups deliberated on the future of: 1)
programs, 2) meetings, and 3) education and outreach activities. Plenary discussion
of the group findings emphasized the intense interest in developing more comprehensive
services that speak to critical needs of members. This includes continued
programs (e.g., the annual meeting; efforts to recruit underrepresented students
into ecology) as well as new programs (e.g., invigorate regional sections
by organizing regional meetings). A common theme was that the initiatives
will require better technologies and more strategic use of the internet as
well as new sources of funding. President Wall and President-Elect Carpenter
will investigate options for funding such initiatives.
- Update Long Range Plan. The Governing Board discussed the Long Range Plan
and agreed upon a set of modifications, clarifications, and reordered priorities.
The revised Long Range Plan is appended below.
IV. New Business
- Support for Biocomplexity briefing. ESA is planning to organize a joint
congressional briefing by ESA and the American Mathematical Society on the
scientific background underlying NSF’s Biocomplexity initiative. Schlesinger
moved that the President be authorized to spend up to $1000 from the Millennium
Fund to promote funding of the NSF Biocomplexity Initiative. The motion was
seconded and unanimously approved.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa J. Graumlich, Secretary
